Archive of Mark's session

Power Up: Video Games in Education

Contact Information

Mark Wagner
email: mark@edtechlife.com
web: http://www.edtechlife.com

Presentation Slides

PowerUp.pdf (47 MB PDF)

What is Hard Fun?

“It’s hard. It’s fun. It’s LOGO.” (1st Grader)
“This kid called the work fun because it was hard rather than in spite of being hard.” (Seymour Papert)
“How do we make writing become hard fun?” (Seymour Papert)

Purpose/Rationale

Digital Natives & Digital Immigrants (Prensky, 2001)
Incidental vs. Intentional Learning (Jonassen, 2002)
enGauge 21st Century Skills (NCREL, 2003)
http://www.ncrel.org/engauge/skills/skills.htm

John Dewey

Experience and Education
Democracy and Education
Experimental Schools
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey

Jean Piaget

Cognitive Structures & Schemes
Functional Invariants: Adaptation & Organization
Adaptation: Assimilation & Accommodation
Stage Theory
http://www.piaget.org

Lev Vygotsky

Experience is Social
Development is Social
The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky

Jerome Bruner

A Theory of Instruction
The Process of Education
The Culture of Education
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerome_Bruner

Seymour Papert

Mindstorms, 1980
The Children’s Machine, 1993
The Connected Family, 1996
http://www.papert.org

David H. Jonasson

Learning to Solve Problems with Technology
Intentionality
Mind Tools
http://www.coe.missouri.edu/~jonassen/

Marc Prensky

Digital Game Based Learning (2001)
Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants (2001)
Don’t Bother Me Mom - I’m Learning! (2006)
http://www.marcprensky.com

James Paul Gee

What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy (2003)
Situated Language and Learning (2004)
Why Video Games are Good For Your Soul (2005)
http://website.education.wisc.edu/gls/people_gee.htm

Clark Aldrich

Simulations and the Future of Learning (2004)
Learning by Doing (2005)
Paradoxes, Sim Words, and Big Skills...
http://learningcircuits.blogspot.com/

Virtual Leader

http://www.simulearn.net

simSchool

http://www.simschool.org

David Williamson Shaffer

Epistemic Games
Simulation Prototypes
How Computer Games Help Children Learn (2006)
http://www.epistemicgames.org

Kurt Squire

Civilization III at Indiana University
Prototypes at MIT
Games, Learning, and Society at University of Wisconsin - Madison
http://website.education.wisc.edu/kdsquire/

Constance Steinkuehler

Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs)
Ethnographies
Games, Learning, and Society Conference
http://website.education.wisc.edu/steinkuehler/

Constructivist Learning Environments

Engagement
Context
Inquiry
Collaboration
Reflection

Web-Based Games

Play in your browser
Mostly FREE
Engaging and content related
Great for younger students
http://www.furl.net/members/ewagner

Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) Games

Teachers may not be able to develop a cutting edge game, but many games can be repurposed.
“Instead of embedding a game into learning, it is possible to embed learning into a game.” (Downes, 2005)
Civilization III & IV
The “Age Of...” Series
The Sim Games
The “Tycoon” Series
And More...
http://www.mackenty.org/index.php/games_work/

Civilization III

Turn-Based Strategy
Systems Content
Social Studies Concepts
Complexity, flexibility, replayability
Failure and choice
Kurt Squire’s Dissertation (2004)
http://www.civ3.com

Civilization III

25% complained the game was too hard, complicated and uninteresting.
25% loved playing the game,thought it was a “perfect way to learn history”, and a highlight of their year.
Students played the game in different ways, leading to highly different understandings.
Playing games does not appeal to everyone, and no one game appeals to all gamers.
http://website.education.wisc.edu/kdsquire/

Mods

Aurora / World Editor
Dungeon Siege
Unreal Engine
Civ IV, The Sims 2, GTA, and More...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mod_(computer_gaming

Neverwinter Nights

Role Playing Game (RPG)
Toolset for user-made content
Teachers can be gamemasters (GMs)
MIT’s Revolution Mod
http://educationarcade.org/revolution

Educational Games

Revolution www.educationarcade.org
Making History www.making-history.com
Dimenxian www.dimenxian.com
And More...

Making History

Designed for education!
Assessment features
Successfully piloted
http://www.making-history.com

Dimenxian

Homework just got harder!
Learn Math or Die Trying.
http://www.dimenxian.com/

Serious Games

A purpose other than entertainment...
Games that Educate, Train, and Inform
Education, Government, Health, First Response, Science...
http://www.seriousgames.org

Games for Change

Games meant to “effect positive social change”
The WFP’s Food Force - http://www.food-force.com
Peter Packet - http://www.peterpacket.org
Dean for Iowa - http://www.deanforamericagame.com
Global Kid’s playing for keeps - http://www.globalkids.org
http://www.gamesforchange.org

PeaceMaker

http://www.peacemaker.com

Games For Health

Games being built for health care applications
Researchers, medical professionals, and game developers
Using game technologies to create new ways of improving the management, quality, and provision of healthcare worldwide.
http://www.gamesforhealth.com

Creating Games

Global Kids’ playing for keeps. www.globalkids.org
Brea High School Global IT Academy (Visual Basic) - http://www.globalitacademy.org
http://www.garagegames.com
http://www.thinkingworlds.com
Spreadsheet Simulations
Maps, Storyboards, and Screenshots...

Game Design & Theory

What Players Want
Elements of Gameplay
Non-Linear Storytelling
www.paranoidproductions.com/gamedesign/

Creating Emotion

Emotioneering
Interesting & Deepening
Character Diamonds
Role Induction
www.freemangames.com

Gender Inclusive Design

Females and Machines
Female Characters
Conflict Resolution Styles
Reward and Gameplay
www.sirenia.com

Roll Playing Games

Origins of the RPG
Cultural Structure
Spheres of Performance
How can computers support this?

Organizational Change

Systems Thinking
Collaborative Learning
Resistance and Challenges
Leadership
Professional Development
Family and the Community

Final Thoughts

Aldrich: Just do it!
March: Be subversive!
Sturman: Go forth and do great things!

Games in Education Resources

Education Arcade - http://www.educationarcade.org
Games, Learning and Society - http://www.glsconference.org
Serious Games Summit - http://www.seriousgamessummit.com
Bill MacKenty’s Blog (a great place to start!) - http://www.mackenty.org/learn/teachers
Video Games in Education (Google Video) - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6117726917684965691 - mguerena

Reflection

How might you use video games with your students?
What would your next steps be?

Q & A

Discussion

Please add your thought below by clicking on "Edit This Page" above.

Contact Information

Mark Wagner
email: mark@edtechlife.com
web: http://www.edtechlife.com[[mailto:mark@edtechlife.com|]]